If Alya finds out first
by literal.semicolon
Summary: I know, I know... Another reveal fic. Let's see where this goes! (Rated T for language.)
1. Chapter 1

Alya filmed from what she deemed a "safe" distance, by Marinette's request. She was on Marinette's roof patio (Marinette was supposed to meet her there, but was running late), so it gave her a really good vantage point for the latest Akuma attack.

She stopped filming to dash out with a quick, "Be right back!" to Marinette's parents. Alya followed the action as it went through the streets of Paris, but the fight was over quickly. She'd taken cover in a narrow alley and didn't have time to move from behind her dumpster before Chat Noir ran in, leaned against a wall, and sighed as his disguise fell.

Alya had even caught it on tape, but she didn't know if she should consider herself lucky or unlucky. The moment she knew Adrien was out of earshot, she cursed.

* * *

For three days, Alya deliberated. She paid the minimum amount of attention required by her surroundings. She didn't even answer Marinette when she asked her what was wrong.

When Alya finally broke her silence, her words were a hushed, "Marinette, I need to tell you something."

Their classes had just let out. When Marinette tried to ask what it was about, Alya just shook her head and muttered, "In private. Can we go to your place?"

Marinette nodded, unsure of what it could be about.

As soon as the trap door was shut, Alya blurted, "I know who Chat Noir is."

Marinette's stomach dropped, but she couldn't let Alya know. "Yeah?" she said simply.

"I even have him on freaking _tape_ ," Alya continued, "but I can't put it on the Ladyblog!"

Marinette sighed. A ray of hope. "Why not?"

Alya pulled the video up on her phone. "See for yourself."

Marinette wished she could have unsaid that "Why not," but it was far too late. She settled for promising herself to apologize to Chat later (after telling him off for being careless, of course). She took the phone in her hands, her heart rising up into her throat as she pressed play. It quickly sank to her shoes as she watched Chat's detransformation. She reflexively threw Alya's phone to her chaise and covered her red face with both hands. "Oh, my god."

Alya mistook Marinette's horrified tone for shock and replied, "Right? I'm willing to bet anything that saving the city _isn't_ on his dad's list of approved activities."

Marinette forced a laugh.

"Anyway," she strolled over to the chaise and picked up her phone, "you can see why I can't tell anyone else. I can't throw my friend under the bus like that."

Another ray of hope. At least Alya wouldn't tell anyone she was Ladybug if she ever found out.

"Are you going to say anything to him?" Marinette asked nervously.

"Yeah, for example, 'You are so lucky that the Ladyblog is run by your friend and not some stranger,'" Alya answered, readying herself to leave. "Are you ok, by the way? I didn't mean to scare you with this; I just had to tell someone."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. I'll just act a little weird around Chat Noir too, but I can pass that off as being star-struck." _As long as I'm not Ladybug_ , she mentally added. _That's going to be trickier_.

"Ok, just making sure. I'll see you later," Alya said as she lifted the trap door and headed out.

The moment Marinette was alone with Tikki, she took a deep breath and held it until she could hear her pulse beating in her ears. She let the breath out slowly and said, "I don't know whether to be upset with myself for _not noticing that Adrien's been flirting with me this whole time as Chat Noir_ , or to be upset with him for being so careless!"

Tikki landed softly on a cushion. "It's ok, Marinette. There's really nothing we can do about it now."

"I can yell at him for being an idiot," she replied, plopping onto the chaise next to her kwami, who giggled.

"Something tells me Alya's got that covered. Besides, Alya's not releasing the video, so how would Ladybug know enough about it to yell at him?" Tikki asked.

Marinette sighed. "You're right. At least Alya can scare him into being more careful."


	2. Chapter 2

The next school day, Marinette had to hide her face in a book when Alya asked Adrien to meet with her after class. She pretended to be really into her textbook until the nervous blush had passed.

For Marinette, the day passed much more slowly than usual. Half of her wished for an akuma to distract her from her feelings, but the more reasonable half of her argued that she didn't want anyone to get hurt, and she _definitely_ didn't want to interact with Chat Noir so soon. It was hard enough sitting behind Adrien in class without feeling sick to her stomach.

When classes were finally over, Alya and Adrien found an empty classroom. Marinette waited outside for Alya—at least, that's what she'd tell anyone who asked.

When Alya closed the door behind them, Adrien asked, "What's up, Alya?"

She smiled as innocently as she could manage and handed him her phone. "I just have this cool footage I want you to see."

He pressed play. "Oh, this is from the last akuma attack. Cool! But you should really be careful about following too closely." His eyes didn't leave the screen.

Alya's sly smile was most definitely audible in her voice. "I think _you're_ the one who should be careful."

Adrien glanced up from the phone for a moment. "Huh? What are you…?" He trailed off as he watched his own detransformation from Alya's vantage point behind a dumpster. The blood drained from his face. "Oh… oh, god." Several thoughts ran through his head, but he couldn't voice any of them.

After a painful silence, Alya plucked her phone from his grasp and said, "You are _so_ lucky that _I_ run the Ladyblog. If it was someone else, they'd have posted this immediately."

Adrien reached for a chair, a desk— _anything_ to put his weight on. Without either of those things within arm's reach, he settled for sitting on the floor. "You _can't_ tell Ladybug about this," he said around the lump forming in his throat. "If she finds out someone knows my identity, she'll… oh, god, she'll be so pissed…."

Alya squatted to his level and patted his head with a grin. "Don't worry. We won't let the cat out of the bag."

He glared at her indignantly. "That's _not_ funny." A pause. "Wait. Did you say 'we'?" He leaned forward and grasped her shoulders. " _Did you tell someone else?_ "

Her face fell. "Shit. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, no…" Adrien groaned, releasing her. "Who?"

Alya let herself drop to the floor, putting her hands up defensively. "Just Marinette, I swear."

He pressed his hands to his face, a muffled groan and, "Isn't she waiting for you outside?" coming from between his palms.

"More like 'keeping watch,'" Alya admitted.

Adrien sighed and stood up. "I should go. My ride's probably already here."

"Wait," Alya said quickly, grabbing his wrist and standing. "I have to ask something. Do you and Ladybug already know each other's secret identities?"

Adrien shook his head, and she let him go. "She said it's to keep us and the people we care about safe. See you later."

He avoided eye-contact with Marinette as he passed her, even as he said, "See you, Marinette."

She didn't have to ask Alya how it had gone.

* * *

 **A/N: I'd just like to reiterate that I don't curse in real life; I just write how people would speak realistically (if they weren't me). Except for the F-bomb. We're keeping it PG-13 here.**


	3. Chapter 3

For the rest of the week, Adrien sported the demeanor of a wilted flower. He did his best to smile when appropriate, but it was his "photoshoot" smile, and his friends could tell.

Nino tried to get him to open up and failed miserably. He tried to discuss it with Alya and Marinette, but the former said not to worry about it, and the latter clammed up completely.

Marinette wasn't much better off. The secret identity thing hadn't really been _her_ rule, but Tikki's, and she was just trying to keep them safe.

* * *

An akuma attacked Sunday afternoon; a photographer, insulted by a potential client, was snapping photos and freezing everyone in place.

Chat Noir was there to help, but didn't say a word outside of combat strategy. When the akuma had been neutralized, and the city returned to order, Ladybug held out a fist. Chat Noir just took off, not even looking at her.

* * *

On Monday, Marinette holed herself up in her room during lunch so she could talk to her kwami.

She sat on her bed and hugged one of her pillows tightly. "I wish there was a way to tell him, as Ladybug, that I'm not mad, but then he'd ask how I know, and this whole secret identity thing is already a mess as it is."

Tikki tried to comfort her. "I know it's hard, but the fewer people that know, the better."

"But, _Tikki_ ," Marinette said, clutching her pillow tighter, "he's _hurting_. Not only is this a problem for Adrien, but it's a problem for Chat and Ladybug too. We can't do our job properly if we're unbalanced like this."

Tikki paused, then nodded. "You know what, Marinette? You should do what you think is right. I'll support your decision."

Marinette took a deep breath and sighed loudly. "Thank you, Tikki. Let's leave him a message to meet up tonight. Hopefully he'll get it in time."

* * *

Meanwhile, Adrien received a call from Alya and took his phone up to his room.

"What the _hell_ , Agreste?" she hissed into the phone—she had tucked herself into a remote corner of her house, trying to keep others from hearing her.

"What?" he asked, slightly grouchy, but mostly oblivious.

"Yesterday, after the akuma had been defeated, Chat Noir left Ladybug hanging. He hardly said a _word_ to her." There was a fumbling sound on the other end, and a muttered, "Stupid cat."

Adrien sat on his couch, but not before looking over his shoulder at the door to his room. "What did you expect?" he asked quietly. "I can't even _look_ at her without feeling guilty."

Alya huffed. "Listen. You've been a miserable wreck for almost a week. Nino's starting to wonder if I know something he doesn't."

"I know, I just… What if she finds out? What if—"

She cut him off. "I think you should talk to Ladybug. You can't know how she'll react unless you tell her. Besides, you're practically her best friend. It's better if she hears it from you."

The line went silent for a stretch.

Then Adrien sighed. "You're right… I can't constantly worry about something like this. It's messing with my schoolwork _and_ my 'extracurricular' activities."

"Damn _right_ , I'm right." He could hear her smile through the words. "I'll let you finish your lunch. See you back in school."

"Right, see you," he replied. As he hung up, he slid down in his seat with a groan.

Plagg awkwardly, but sympathetically, patted him on the nose. "C'mon, kid. Let's get some more food in ya."

With a sigh, Adrien peeled himself from the couch and made his way back down to the dining room.


	4. Chapter 4

The moment he was free—after school and everything else—Adrien shut himself in his room and transformed.

He was going to call Ladybug, but he already had a message from her to meet up a few rooftops down from the bakery after sundown. "I guess this is actually happening now," he said to himself.

Chat Noir didn't even bother waiting till sundown. He got a head-start and even bought a few pastries before hunkering down on a rooftop and trying to soothe his nerves by stuffing his face. The empty box was still open beside him when Ladybug showed up thirty minutes later.

She didn't miss a beat. "Aww, you didn't save me any?"

Chat blushed under his mask. "Sorry, didn't think about it."

"I was kidding." Ladybug laughed and moved the box, sitting where it had been. "I didn't take you for a stress-eater," she remarked.

"Who said I was stress-eating?" he asked with indignation.

She pointed to his twitching belt-tail. "Your tail, for starters."

Chat's face grew red again, and he tried to change the subject. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, a couple of things," she said, her smile fading. "First, I wanted to ask what's been bothering you."

He took a deep breath and leaned back against the chimney wall. It took him a bit to work up the courage to speak. "Do you remember—a couple of weeks ago, when we'd just finished fighting an akuma—how I stuck around till I was super close to transforming, and then I bolted?"

Ladybug nodded.

"I…" He looked away from her when he felt tears welling up. "I screwed up. I didn't give myself enough time to make sure no one could see, and someone got a video."

Ladybug didn't even bother trying to fake surprise or anger. Instead, she wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "That's…" She sighed. "That's actually the second thing I wanted to talk about."

Chat jerked from her grasp, actual terror in his eyes. " _What?_ She said she wouldn't post it!"

"Calm down, Minou," she said, turning to face him. "She didn't. And I'm not mad at you."

He visibly calmed, but still looked upset. "I wouldn't blame you if you were."

She smiled and shook her head. "I'm not. I'm just worried about you beating yourself up over it. And I'm glad that of all the people in Paris, _Alya_ was the only one who found out."

"So she told you?" Chat asked, still appearing guilt-ridden. _She doesn't know that Marinette also knows_.

Ladybug could feel her heart pounding now. "Yes… and no." Seeing his look of confusion, she clarified. He needed to know. More than that, she needed to tell him. "She told me, but… she didn't know she was telling Ladybug."

She hoped he could draw conclusions from there, but if not, she had mentally prepared for a frank confession.

He stared at her for a solid five seconds, his face flushing once more. "M-Marinette?"

Ladybug nodded, hesitant to see his reaction.

She'd half-expected the hug, but not the breathy, "Oh, thank god," muttered in her ear.

Chat squeezed her a little tighter as he added, "I am _so sorry_."

Ladybug hugged him back, replying, "It's fine, Chat. Just be more careful, okay?"

He nodded; then he released her and sat back. "What do you think of Alya knowing who we _both_ really are?"

Ladybug squirmed a little. "It would be nice to have someone else to talk to about it… but I don't want to put her in danger."

Chat shrugged. "It doesn't have to be today or tomorrow. Just make sure it's _you_ that tells her." He smiled. "It's better if she hears it from you."

She nodded. "I'll think about it. My kwami said it's better if fewer people know."

Chat stood and stretched. "Well, technically, she's already in the loop, so it wouldn't change the number of people." Then he bent and reached past Ladybug to grab his empty pastry box, winking as his face got close to hers.

As soon as the shock passed, she laughed. "You are _incorrigible_."

He laughed in response. "Well, it _is_ very difficult to train a cat."

She stood as well and nudged him with an elbow. "Go home, Chaton. You've had a long week."

Chat grinned and took off, dropping the pastry box in a public trash can on the way.

Ladybug made her way back to her own rooftop before dropping down into her bed and transforming back. She lay back with a sigh. " _I've_ had a long week."

* * *

 **Aaand, that's it. Sorry it's not longer, but I tend to keep my reveal fics to just the reveal and everyone's reactions. Nino didn't get to find out in this one, but he'll survive.**

 **Thanks for all the reviews and support!**


End file.
